Now you can provide scholarship funds to the students at The Joy House’s on-campus, GAC-accredited school. Your contribution will qualify for a dollar-for-dollar education tax credit on your Georgia income tax return.

The Georgia Qualified Education Expense Tax Credit Program allows individual and corporate taxpayers to redirect a portion of their State income taxes to benefit students at private schools, including The Joy House Academy.

Each year, the State of Georgia allows a portion of state income tax dollars to be designated for school scholarships. The portion for 2019 has been increased to $100 million. This program allows individuals and companies to receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for donations for student scholarships at accredited non-profit private schools in Georgia. The state legislature amended the law in 2013 to open this benefit up to LLCs, S-Corps and Partnerships.

All donations are processed by organizations called Student Scholarship Organizations(SSO). The Joy House is working with Georgia Student Scholarship Organization (GaSSO) as our SSO. All contributions designating the Joy House Academy will be directed to the teens in our program to meet their educational needs.

Scholarship contributions can have a significant impact on supporting the Joy House program, as nearly 20 percent of our budget needs are for education.

For the past several years the cap has been met and exceeded on the first business day of the year. The state has handled this by pro-rating requests. For instance, in 2018 total requests were just over $105 million which led to requests being pro-rated at 55%. A donation request of $10,000 for a business owner was approved at $5500. With the increase in the cap to $100 million for 2019 we’re planning that donation requests will be approved for at least 90%. With the cap being exceeded on the first business day it is imperative that we have those who want to participate to act between now and the end of the year to fill out the appropriate request form. Last year only those requests that were input on the first business day were honored. You can fill out the appropriate request online at the GaSSO website and they will be automatically input to the DOR. You can get the details below on how to do this.

The state has set generous limits. You can contribute any amount you choose up to the following:

Couples filing jointly can redirect up to $2,500 of their income tax liability.

Individuals can redirect up to $1,000 of their income tax liability.

C Corporations that pay Georgia income taxes can redirect up to 75% of their income tax liability.

LLCs, S-Corps, and Partnerships: Up to $10,000 or 6% of income, whichever is less.

Easy To Participate

Designating your tax credit to The Joy House Academy is easy. Simply follow these steps.

Get Pre-Qualified.For the 2019 tax year all applications are handled online. Please follow this link to the GaSSO website and click on the “Click here to donate for 2019” icon in the upper left portion of the page. Fill out and submit the online form. On completion and submission of the form you will receive an email confirmation from GaSSO.

Verification: After filling out the form on the GaSSO website please send Steve an email letting him know you’ve applied and the dollar amount. This will allow us to verify with GaSSO and insure they have all the correct information. Your notification will also allow us to track our potential funding.

GaSSO makes Requests:This step requires no action from you. Your request will automatically be input to the DOR between the time you enter and the state’s first day of business for the New Year.

DOR Confirmation.The Georgia DOR will review your application. You will then be sent an approval letter by mail. This letter will include the approved amount you can donate. You should receive this letter by the end of February 2019. Last year most of the approval letters were received before the end of January.

Donate to Help Teens.After you receive your approval letter, you will have 60 days to make your donation to Georgia Student Schloarship Organization (GaSSO). You can make your donation by sending a check by mail. Please designate Joy House Academy on the memo line of your check and include a photocopy of the DOR approval letter.

Get Credit!GaSSO. will send you a confirmation form IT-QEE-SSO1, which, along with the DOR approval letter, you will need to file with your state tax return in order to claim the Educational Expense Credit.

If you have any questions about the process, or need assistance, contact Steve Lowe by email or phone at 706-253-7569.